


Borderline Heroes

by amphibianChaos



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Friendship, Gen, Ghost Aradia Megido, Humanstuck, Tags as we go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-01-02 14:27:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21163130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amphibianChaos/pseuds/amphibianChaos
Summary: Twenty-four hours ago, you were (somewhat) normal high school students. Now you're superheroes, destined to save the world, or at least you would be if you had any idea what the heck you're doing.a story about friendship, superpowers, and shenanigans, rated t for canon-typical language





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello and welcome to my first time posting anything on this site, I have no idea what I'm doing so that's cool  
anyway this is my superhero au! this is based off a weird dream I had one time, so if some of their superpowers don't make sense that's because they were assigned by my subconscious mind which has all the mental capability of three ducks in a trenchcoat  
anyway I hope you like it :)

Your name is Aradia Megido and you do not exist.

At least as far as the rest of the world is concerned. They cannot see or hear you anymore, but you're still there. You never left. Tonight is the meteor shower, and after that, everything will fall into place.

You've tried to interact with the living world a few times, albeit unsuccessfully. Which you expected. It doesn't matter anyway. Everything is about to change.

You will be reunited soon. The meteor shower is tonight, and with it will come your friends' awakening. They have had these powers all their lives, but unlike yours, theirs have remained dormant.

Tonight, they will begin to unlock their full potential.

Tonight, everything will change.

Your name is Karkat Vantas and this is fucking bullshit.

You're at Feferi's house — Feferi's _mansion_, because her mom is the CEO of Fuckass Enterprises or whatever the hell it's called — because apparently tonight there's some kind of meteor shower thing that's going to be "glubbing AW-ESOM----E", but all you've done is sit around doing absolutely jack shit for hours.

You look around the room at your absurdly dysfunctional friend group. Eridan, Vriska, and Terezi are commandeering the TV with an intense game of Super Smash Bros that you are staying the hell away from. Tavros and Nepeta are playing Pokemon together, and apparently Nepeta's roped Equius into this because he also has a hand full of Pokemon cards. Gamzee's been staring at a gogdamn lava lamp for about twenty minutes now, and Kanaya and Feferi are sitting next to you and having a normal conversation unlike the rest of this fucking disaster group.

"So when the fuck is this thing starting anyway?" you ask in the general direction of anyone who might be listening.

"Around eleven," Kanaya says.

"We should probably go up to the observatory soon," Feferi adds. She glances at you. "Karkat, do you want to..."

"Yeah, I'll go get him." She doesn't need to finish the question. Ever since the accident, you're one of maybe three people that he'll willingly talk to. It's pretty fucking impressive that you collectively managed to get him to leave the house. He then prompty fucked off to some isolated room to be depressed and do computer shit, which really isn't any different from what he was doing at home, but you guess it's progress.

You guess.

You walk through the absurdly long hallways until you notice a faint blue light and typing noises coming from a half-open door. You shove open the door, where Sollux is just sitting on the floor in the dark doing whatever the fuck he does on his computer all day.

"Hey, asshole."

He looks up at you for about half a second. "The fuck do you want?"

"The meteor shit's starting. Feferi asked me to get you."

He shuts his laptop and gets up. The two of you start walking back down the hall and you pretend not to notice that his eyes are red underneath his stupid 3d glasses.

You were never really that close with Aradia, but still. It's pretty fucking terrible to have one of your friends just die out of nowhere. Especially for Sollux, considering she was his best friend (and possible romantic interest? No, fuck that, as much as you love romance, Sollux is your fucking brother and there is no way in hell you're going to think about him dating anyone). Most of you have come to terms with things since the accident, but Sollux has been in a worse-than-usual depressive episode for weeks now and you're kind of worried about him.

Not that you would tell him that. The day you admit you care about Sollux is the day you stab yourself with a rusty spork. Because seriously, fuck him.

Feferi waves you both over as soon as you get to the observatory. "Come on! It's going to start in a few minutes!"

You walk over to one of the windows and okay, yeah, this is pretty incredible. This is possibly the most stars you've ever seen at once. A million little pinpricks of light against the night sky.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" You turn and see Kanaya standing next to you. "There's Cancer," she says, pointing up at the sky. "And over there is Virgo."

You try to see the constellations, but you can't. You've never been able to tell which tiny light specks belong in certain patterns and which ones don't. It's just a giant mess of stars.

A flash of light streaks across the sky, and a few people cheer. It's starting. Another flash goes by and you see a few more meteors. It's actually really pretty.

That's the last thing you remember before you pass out.

Your name is Sollux Captor and you don't know what just happened.

A minute ago you were watching the meteor shower with Feferi, and now you're on the floor with the beginning of a migraine pulsing through your head. Fuck, did you pass out? That would be pretty embarrassing. What the hell happened?

You stand up and look around, trying to get your vision to focus. The rest of your friends are scattered around the room in various states of confusion, and standing in front of you is—

_No. Fuck. She's dead, Aradia's dead, she's not here, she can't be here._

You shut your eyes, but when you open them again she's still there. Floating above the ground, almost translucent. _A ghost._

She touches your arm, and it feels real and solid and grounding. She seems almost surprised to be able to touch you, but it only lasts for a few seconds before she wraps her arms around you.

You hug her tight, and this is impossible, she's dead, this can't be happening, but you don't care because she's _here_ and it's real and she's right next to you and you never want to let her go again. The laws of the universe can go fuck themselves. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." She pulls away and there are tears streaking down her face, coming from blank white eyes, but she's smiling too. You brush away your own tears as Feferi and Nepeta hug her, saying how much they've missed her, but you aren't listening to anything they're saying. _She's real. She's here._

"So is anyone going to explain what the fuck is going on?!" Karkat. Of course. Fuck, you hope he didn't see you crying. You're going to have to find some way to blackmail him if he did.

"I, uh, was also wondering that," Tavros says. "I mean, not that it's not great, that you're here, but, I'm not really sure what's going on? Or what just happened?"

"The Reckoning has begun. Over the next twenty-four hours, you will each unlock your inner power."

"And what exactly are these powers?" Kanaya asks.

"Each power is unique and depends on the person. Mine is telekinesis." Aradia raises her arm, and a book across the room floats into the air. "You will all discover yours in time."

"Not to ruin this whole dramatic monologue, but, like, aren't you supposed to be dead?" Vriska flips her hair over her shoulder. "How are you even here?"

"Objection." Terezi smacks her with her cane.

"You can't just _object_ to whatever—"

"Objection on the grounds of you're a bitch."

"I would also like to know how you're here, last time I checked dead people can't exactly come back to life." Eridan looks at Aradia skeptically, as if she's some kind of elaborate prank or something and not standing literally right here.

"I'm here because I need to be. All twelve of us are necessary for us to succeed."

"Or else what?"

"Or else the universe is doomed."

"How do we un-doom it?" Feferi asks, looking worried. "There has to be a way, right?"

Aradia nods. "We need to train our powers, use them for the forces of good, and when the time is right, we will be responsible for restoring the universe."

Karkat mutters something along the lines of _great, vague-ass spooky prophecy bullshit_, but Nepeta's eyes light up. "So we get to be supurrheroes?"

"Pretty much, yes."

Nepeta grins. Gamzee smiles lazily from across the room. "Sounds all kind of motherfucking miraculous."

_Superheroes._

_Over the next twenty-four hours, you will each unlock your inner power._

You feel like your life just got a whole lot more complicated.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp this was supposed to be longer but writers block

gallowsCalibrator [GC] opened memo on board R41NBOW RUMPUS P4RTYTOWN

GC: SO TH1S M3MO 1S TO T4LK 4BOUT OUR POW3RS  
GC: 1 JUST GOT M1N3 4ND 1 C4N R34D M1NDS NOW  
GC: SO YOU GUYS B3TT3R W4TCH OUT >:]  
adiosToreador [AT] responded to memo.  
AT: i'M PRETTY SURE, i hAVE ALSO DISCOVERED MY POWER  
GC: >:?  
AT: i cAN FLY,  
AT: oR, rEALLY, lEVITATE KIND OF  
AT: bUT IT IS STILL PRETTY COOL, i tHINK  
arsenicCatnip [AC]  responded to memo.  
AC: :33< *ac is excited for her furriends and their pawesome new powers*  
AC: :33< *she wonders if gc can read her mind right meow?*  
GC: 1 JUST TR13D 4ND NO 1 C4NT  
GC: 1 GU3SS 1T ONLY WORKS IN P3RSON  
GC: WH4T 4BOUT YOU D1D YOU G3T YOUR POW3R Y3T?  
AC: :33< yes!!! i am sp33dy and can climb up things  
AC: :33< basically i am a kitty :33  
AC: :33< also sollux has electrokin33sis and he accidentally blew out the power in the whole house  
AC: :33< so now he has a migraine and will purrobably not be joining the memo :((  
AC: :33< and karkitty didnt get his power yet so hes kind of pissed about that  
centaursTesticle [CT] responded to memo.  
CT: D--> Language.  
AC: :33< fuck :33  
CT: D--> Nepeta.  
carcinoGeneticist [CG] responded to memo.   
CG: OKAY, FIRST OF ALL, I AM NOT PISSED ABOUT ANYTHING.  
CG: WHEN I GET MY POWER, IT WILL BE AMAZING AND BETTER THAN YOU EVER DREAMED OF. ALL OF YOUR POWERS WILL BE INCREDIBLY SHITTY IN COMPARISON. YOU ALL WILL FUCKING WISH YOU WERE ME.  
grimAuxiliatrix [GA] responded to memo.  
GA: I Have Discovered My Power As Well  
GA: I Have Some Control Of Light And Darkness  
GA: It Is Nothing Fancy But I Still Find It Interesting  
arachnidsGrip [AG] responded to memo.  
AG: You guys are so l8me.  
AG: I have mind control.  
AG: 8eat that.  
CG: WHATEVER.  
CG: MY POWER IS GOING TO BE SO MUCH BETTER THAN YOURS AND  
CG: My n8me is Kark8 Vantas and I'm a fucking loser.  
CG: FUCK YOU VRISKA.  
AG: ::::)  
CG: CONGRATULATIONS, YOU WIN THE BIGGEST FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT AWARD. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN THE FUCKING WORLD THAT IS SHITTIER THAN YOU.  
CG: THAT WILL LOOK GREAT NEXT TO ALL YOUR OTHER EQUALLY SHITTY ACHIEVEMENTS, LIKE THE HUGE BITCH GRAND PRIZE AND THE PARTICIPATION AWARD FOR ATTEMPTING TO BE A DECENT HUMAN BEING.  
CG: ACTUALLY, YOU DON'T EVEN GET THE PARTICIPATION AWARD. YOU WEREN'T EVEN TRYING.  
GC: OK4Y 3V3RYON3 CH1LL TH3 FUCK OUT  
gallowsCalibrator banned carcinoGeneticist from responding to memo.  
gallowsCalibrator banned  arachnidsGrip from responding to memo.  
gallowsCalibrator ceased responding to memo.

Your name is Karkat Vantas and you would love if everyone would just shut the fuck up about their powers.

Your crippling inadequacy has hit a fucking all-time high since yesterday, when over the course of the day literally everyone, including Eridan and Equius, got superpowers except you. You woke up this morning to an excited message in the group memo from Feferi about her powers (water-themed, of fucking course), cementing your place as the only fucking loser that doesn't have shit. Besides Gamzee, actually. But it's entirely possible that he did get powers and he's just too high off his fucking ass to notice. You wouldn't put it past him.

"Seriously, KK, are you still bitching about the superpower thing?"

"Fuck off." You flip him off. "Sorry I can't shoot fucking lightning out of my ass, but not everyone's that fucking special!"

"KK—"

"Purradia said that all of us were going to get our powers sometime yesterday, so you purrobably got yours too," Nepeta says, matter-of-factly like she's not describing a conversation you had with a ghost about superpowers. "Maybe you got yours and you just haven't had the chance to use it yet. Like, maybe you can talk to fish or make trees grow or something."

"Wow. Those are some amazing fucking superpowers. You know what, fuck Superman, I'm the gogdamn Fish Whisperer now. Fucking useful as shit."

"Karkitty." Nepeta sticks her tongue out at you. Effects of spending your entire lives together means your siblings are pretty much immune to your bullshit. Except Kankri, but fuck him.

You slam your locker door a little harder than necessary. "Look, can we talk about literally anything else?"

"Karkat!" Terezi runs down the hallway toward you, faster than she should considering she can't see. "So? What's your power?"

"Jegus fuck do you guys have literally nothing else to talk about—"

"Okay, chill. So you don't have a power yet?"

You glare at her. "The fuck?! Did you just read my mind?!"

"I didn't have to. It's kind of obvious. Look, Aradia said we—"

"I am not having this fucking conversation again. Wow, breaking news, I don't have a fucking superpower and if I do it's probably absolute shit! What a surprise!"

"Karkat—"

You storm down the hallway. You don't know where you're going and you don't care. You just want to get out of there, away from everyone who is now officially way fucking better than you.

Sometimes you really hate yourself.


End file.
